CISA Conference 2015 will focus on employment, accommodation and community engagement

AUSTRALIA’s peak international student organisation have released their full program for its 2015 conference, promising to create strategies that help international students gain employment and combat workplace, accommodation and engagement issues. Rowan Forster has more.

Photo: Julian Tay

The Council of International Students in Australia (CISA) have released the full program for their upcoming national conference in Melbourne held from Monday July 6 to Wednesday July 8.

Coinciding with its fifth anniversary, the official theme of the peak body’s conference is “Together towards Tomorrow” where key aspects of discussion across the three-day event will look at workplace issues and employment, accommodation, and community engagement – all aspects that affect international students studying in Australia.

The conference will this year focus on creating strategies and plans to combat these issues while also developing change and reform to enhance the student experience in Australia, says National President of CISA Thomson Ch’ng.

“Different from previous years, our focus will be on formulating action plans from the issues that have been raised in past years while we celebrate our achievements and move forward together as a community to better the experience of international students in Australia,” Mr Ch’ng says.

Taking place at Peninsula A in Docklands, the conference will feature talks from many pivotal figures in the international education sector, including senior politicians, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the Race Discrimination Commissioner for the Australian Human Rights commission.

Other conference sessions will cover a wide range of professional development training for international students and student leaders.

“This is the place for international student representatives across Australia to connect with one another, the ‘who’s who’ of international education to provide policy updates and respond to students’ questions and issues,” elaborated Mr Ch’ng.

Achievements by current students will also be celebrated through the CISA Excellence Awards. Recipients of these awards are international students who have made outstanding contributions to both Australia and society. Among those included are the undergraduate and postgraduate international student of the year awards. Winners will be announced during the conference.